The invention disclosed herein is related generally to a novel and useful apparatus which is specifically designed to suspend and rotate boats of varying sizes about their longitudinal axes. More particularly, the invention disclosed herein is directed toward an apparatus which is capable of suspending and supporting a boat solely by the support eyes mounted on the rear and front ends thereof, and rotating the boat about its longitudinal axis to facilitate ease in cleaning, repairing or displaying the hull of the boat, as well as the interior thereof.
Boats which are in need of repair or cleaning are commonly hoisted from the water by means of a boat trailer which is attached to a vehicle for pulling the same. It is extremely difficult for a repairman to work around and under the frame of the boat trailer when cleaning or repairing a boat resting thereon. The supports on the boat trailer quite often cover a good portion of the bottom of the boat, thereby making it difficult or impossible to clean the entire bottom surface of the boat. Moreover, if repair is needed, the repairman must position himself in ackward positions in order to work around the frame of the boat trailer, and crawl underneath the boat and trailer for access to the bottom surface thereof. It is readily apparent from the above that there is a distinct need for an apparatus which can readily remove a boat from a boat trailer and suspend and rotate the boat, while allowing the boat trailer to be removed from thereunder.
Attempts have been made in the past to design a system for suspending and rotating a boat about its longitudinal axis, but such systems have not proved adequate. One such apparatus involves the use of a pair of reinforced straps which wrap around the boat tightly and enables the operator to turn the boat about its longitudinal axis. The most obvious fault with this system is that the straps tend to cover an appreciable area of the hull of the boat so as to prohibit the operator from cleaning or repairing such areas.
Another system for suspending and rotating a boat about its longitudinal axis is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,997,292, issued to Lucker et al on Aug. 22, 1961. The apparatus in this patent is designed to suspend from opposite ends a row boat or other boat which is specifically adapted for outboard motors. One obvious problem with the apparatus shown in this patent is that it is limited in its applications (boats with outboard motors only), and requires that the outboard motor be removed from the boat prior to use of the apparatus. Moreover, it would be impossible through use of the apparatus shown in this patent to properly position the hoist at opposite ends of the boat while the boat rests on a boat trailer. The portion of the boat trailer extending beyond the front end of the boat would obstruct the positioning of the front hoist. Thus, any boat used with the boat jack shown in this patent must be removed from its boat trailer by some means and allowed to rest on the ground prior to connecting the boat jack thereto. Under such conditions, the hull of the boat can easily be damaged, thereby necessitating the need for further undesirable repairs.
It is evident from the above that there is a distinct need for an apparatus which suspends and rotates a boat about its longitudinal axis which can be used to support a variety of different types of boats without obstructing or covering portions of the hull which may need to be cleaned or repaired. It is also evident from the above that there is a distinct need for an apparatus for suspending and rotating a boat about its longitudinal axis which is designed to accommodate a boat upon its boat trailer such that the boat rotating apparatus may be positioned in proper boat-supporting relation without removal of the boat from the trailer. With such proper positioning, the boat may be lifted directly off the boat trailer so as to allow the boat trailer to be readily removed from thereunder.
It is the object of this invention to provide such an apparatus for suspending and rotating a boat about its longitudinal axis which is capable of supporting a variety of different types and sizes of boats and is designed to accommodate, connect to and lift such boats directly off their boat trailer so as to allow the boat trailer to be removed from thereunder.